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Why Low-Sugar Sweets Needn’t Be an Oxymoron

Life without dessert? Unthinkable. These recipes for coconut chiffon cake, strawberry cream cheese fool, ’breakfast cookies’ and cherry-walnut granola deliver all the flavor but much less sugar. You won’t miss it.

This coconut cake contains only 46% of the sugar used in a typical angel food cake. Adding egg yolks give the cake moisture that recipes otherwise rely on sugar to provide. Coconut milk also enriches both batter and glaze and provides an alternative source of sweetness. Victor Prado for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Jamie Kimm, Prop Styling by Nidia Cueva

WHAT’S A SWEET tooth to do? Sugar has become the new demonized ingredient du jour. And while I’m as interested in healthy(ish) eating as the next person, for me, dessert is not negotiable.

Millions of Americans are striving to cut back on sugar. In January, for the first time, the new federal dietary guidelines set a limit for added sugars—those added to foods or drinks when they’re processed or prepared, as opposed to the naturally occurring sugars in, say, fruits and dairy products—and recommended they make up no more than 10% of daily calories. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted soon after the new rules were announced revealed that 58% of Americans try to limit the amount of sugar they consume—a greater number than those who shun calories, sodium, fat, cholesterol or carbohydrates.

See the Recipes

To meet the federal target, the average American needs to trim sugar intake by about a third. The game is on to figure out how to bake delicious sweets with less sugar.

Joanne Chang,
owner of Flour Bakery in Boston, said that sugar’s often a safety net as much as a sweetener, helping to keep cakes moist, promote browning and prolong shelf life. A solid recipe will cultivate those qualities even with a reduced sugar content. Her book “Baking with Less Sugar,” published last year, includes a coconut chiffon cake that slashes the sugar in her usual recipe by 46%. The low-sugar version’s become so popular Ms. Chang features it as a special on the menu at both Easter and Christmas.

Still, sometimes you really can’t monkey with the sugar content. “When you cream butter and sugar together, the sharp little crystals create pockets that fill the batter with air,” said Shauna Sever, author of “Real Sweet,” a collection of recipes made with less-refined sweeteners. “That’s what creates a light fluffy texture.” And that makes a big difference to the consistency of the finished cake or cookie. In contrast, “with a muffin or a quick bread, there’s some other leavener to do the work.” Sugar also lowers the freezing temperature of ice creams and sorbets and prevents them from freezing solid.

Sweet Strategies for Low-Sugar Baking

Add finely chopped dried fruit to a batter to boost sweetness.

Increase the amount of sweet spices, such as cinnamon and vanilla. These flavors suggest sweetness so you don’t notice the sugar isn’t there.

Substitute overripe bananas or date paste. These have plenty of sweetness (and nutrients to boot). They also provide moistness that can be lost when you cut sugar.

Alternatives to sugar—agave nectar, honey, maple syrup, molasses, coconut sugar—are also in vogue because they tend to be less processed than white sugar, and processed foods are right up there with sugar at the top of the taboo list these days. Cooks argue, too, that they add more flavor. In theory, that means you need less sweetener to make something delicious. Ms. Sever, for example, soaks dates in water then whizzes them into a paste to sweeten oat-and-dried-fruit “breakfast cookies.” Ms. Chang reduces apple juice to a syrup for her luscious strawberry cream cheese fool.

These flavorful alternative sweeteners have plenty to recommend them, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the dietary guideline applies to all sugars, not just the refined white kind. “Sugars are calories and no nutrients,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University. “It all works the same way and everyone would be healthier eating less of it.”

Indeed, I’ve wondered if the most sensible tactic is simply to go on the ever-unpopular eat-less-dessert diet. But after trying out the recipes, I’m relieved to know it won’t have to come to that. If low-sugar sweets can taste this good, I’ll take those and eat them, too.

Low-Sugar Sweets—Not An Oxymoron

Life without dessert? Unthinkable. These recipes for coconut chiffon cake, strawberry cream cheese fool, ’breakfast cookies’ and cherry-walnut granola deliver all the flavor but much less sugar. You won’t miss it.